CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ETHOS

Surfing started with ‘The Duke’ but it carries on with all of us. It’s our job to continue this legacy with pride and passion. Hammo Surfboards is a 2nd generation shaping company. We surf and make boards because that’s what we feel we were born to do.

"That’s just what we do. No bullshit, no fairytales, the plain and simple truth."

We make sure that we always use the highest quality products available, are environmentally conscious, and are always willing to innovate to push design to new levels. It’s about attention to detail. We’re also about giving back. We want the people around us to benefit too. That’s what a community does.. we look out for each other.
So whether your girlfriend has a problem when you leave your wettie in the shower, or Mum won’t drive you to your local break because you’ve got to see your grandma. It doesn’t matter. We’ve all been there and we’ll still continue surfing because we’re surfers. That’s just what we do. No bullshit, no fairytales, the plain and simple truth.

DANE HAMILTON - BIO

Like a lot of other Aussie kids, I was born into surfing; my Dad was a shaper and surf shop owner on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Not long after I was walking, I was surfing, and by my teens, competing and winning titles. Even at 16 I was already realising how subtleties in board design influenced performance, which was when my Dad started teaching me to hand shape.

A couple of years later we moved down to the Gold Coast and fresh surfing grounds: Burleigh Heads, Kirra, Snapper Rocks and D’Bah. I was also competing on the WQS, surfing worldwide on a mix-up of waves in varying conditions, all the time continuing to develop my concepts in board design. Back home I shaped for DHD, Simon Anderson and JS; in the latter part of my time with those guys I ran their factory floors.

I spent my days outside the factory hanging out with Coolangatta locals Dean ‘Dingo’ Morrison, Mick Fanning and Bede Durbidge. The feedback from those guys was invaluable. That’s when the term ‘product development,’ which is often just an excuse to shut shop and catch waves, actually means something.

"I aim to shape boards that will work in all conditions"

I believe performance is synonymous with enjoyment, and the more I surf and the more feedback I get from the pros, the more I’m guided towards shaping the optimum boards for my customers–dialling that knowledge into my designs. Along the Gold Coast the number of shapers is proportionate to the number of surfers, and around here almost everyone surfs. There’s a lot of competition in my field; I aim to put 100 percent into every board I shape; I see it as my contribution to surfing, not just locally but worldwide.

Surfers belong to the global family of surfing, and in looking at the bigger picture, given my experience surfing around the world, I aim to shape boards that will work in all conditions, whether here in Australia, Japan, Indo, Europe or the USA.

For someone buying one of my boards I believe in personalising the experience, and to that end in November 2009 I opened up the Coolangatta Board Store. I share my time between my shaping shop and the store, where I’m on hand to discuss the merits of custom shaped boards or boards off the rack. When one of my boards enhances the performance and enjoyment of a customer’s surfing I’m stoked.